Monday, March 22, 2010

We have been here in England for a little over 7 months and we have just under 2 months to go.

While we have been here my kids have grown a lot. They have left a lot of baby things behind here and it is hard for me to say goodbye to them.

While we have been here Eliza has given up her pacifier and has become potty trained and Fenton has given up his bottle. It is funny because I really worked hard for them to do these things and get to the next stage without these "baby" things in their life. It is hard for me to throw them away because that means they really are growing up. So I took pictures of them so I can still remember my cute little babies and still throw these things away (although the potty training is always a blessing).

They have been such great kids living here with no car, stairs everyday, metro system, daddy studying everyday, learning to speak with an accent, and cold weather. I am so grateful they are here with me and I love them so much!

Fenton is definitely developing a personality. He is so silly. Somehow teasing has come naturally to him because he teases Eliza by jumping on her, or sitting on her just like a little brother should. He says so many words now. He can repeat the last word of anything you say.Here are just a few pics of Fenton being silly

Monday, March 15, 2010

I was blessed to have two of my sisters and their husbands come and visit me here in England. I don't know if it was really me they wanted to see or the country and all of its splendor, but I assume responsibility for their travels.

They arrived Saturday morning and they were in a daze for about a day and a half from the time change. I didn't give them much time to adjust because as soon as they got here we were off and running. We picked up a 9 passenger van and drove downtown to pick up David. We went to the pier and had some amazing fish and chips and then it was off to Edinburgh.

We stopped at Alnwick castle and Bamburgh castle, but didn't go in either one of them.

Finding our hotel in Edinburgh proved to be quite a challenge. The many obstacle that faced us were the Mike wasn't used to driving on the wrong side of the street and car, it was a standard car, the roads in Edinburgh are horrible, every road is a different name, they don't continue on, so that was a disaster, and of course it was dark. We finally got a taxi to show us the way and we stayed in our hotel.

That night was bad. Apparently there was some concert that night at the airport so all of the groupies got hotels all over town. they came back from the concert expressing their enjoyment at the concert, VERY LOUDLY. it was bad.

The next morning we hit Edinburgh and I tried to be the best tour guide with limited experience in the town, but I think they saw everything they wanted. The castle, the hill, the palace, royal mile, a fun ma and pa shop for lunch, souvenirs shops, museum and even church. We left that night and headed to Keswick, which is in the Lake District.

Keswick is a fun little town right near the lake and has a lot of outdoor shops so it was fun for the men to look around. We didn't stay long because we needed to be on the road heading south. Our destination was unknown, we just needed to head south and through the Coswalts. We stopped in Stratford upon Avon which is where Shakespeare was born and saw the local scenery. It was a fun little town with old buildings and cute little streets. We kept driving through the Coswalts, (which is a group of little towns still with the old time charm with building with thatched roofs and uneven walls)

We were tired of driving and the kids were ready to get out. We had stopped a little town because the buildings were picture worthy and we decided to stay. It was such a quaint little town and our Bed and breakfast place was super nice. It has the old town feel but with huge updates like surround sound, spa bathrooms and Internet. It was such a fun unexpected place to stay.

Our hotel in the Coswalts

This is the shower in our room. It had a sprinkler over head, about 30 different jets, feet jet, back jet, neck jet, it had a radio and it had a little door to keep the towel in the shower and dry. it was the coolest shower ever. A church and the cemetery in the little town.

We drove to Bath the next day and it was great. This was the Roman resort. This is the place where people went for vacation. There were many baths, all natural. there was a steam room, a cold bath, warm bath, swimming bath and all sorts of rooms. It was so neat to see how this could have been the vacation spot of the 1st century.

one of the baths the Abby near the bath and pump room some of the architecture in Bath

Melinda and Eliza in the Abby at Bath We headed to London that night and we saw most of the touristy spots. The London eye, Buckingham palace, big Ben, west minster Abby, parliament, Tower bridge, London tower and then my sisters saw a show that night. I left them that night and drove back to Newcastle with the kids.

West Minster Abby

West minster Abby was amazing and had so many monuments inside of famous people and all of the royalty. It had monuments to Shakespeare, Geoffry Chaucer, Jane Austin, Darwin, Newton, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, and a lot of kings. It was awesome to see the history come together under one roof. This is the place that royal weddings and funerals take place and also the inauguration of the new king or queen.

The London tower was also awesome. This is where some of King Henry VIII beheaded two of his wives and held prisoner many others. This is the place where many people were beheaded or hung. It was quite interesting to think that these gruesome things happened right there. And of course this is where the crown jewels are kept and that was spectacular. We saw all of the crowns and sceptors and swords and dining sets from hundreds of years. It was amazing.

The main white tower at London Tower The outside gates of the whole London Tower Memorial to Anne Boleyn

It was an very busy 5 days but it was so great to be with my sisters and their husbands. They helped so much with the kids and I hope they had a great time and saw all they wanted to in England.

Monday, March 1, 2010

I couldn't imagine the joy that cereal might bring into ones life, but that is exactly what a box of Lucky Charms has done. My mom sent us a package and inside was a box of Lucky Charms.When David came home from studying, I had Fenton take him the box of cereal and David held in up in the air triumphantly. England doesn't have really sugary cereals, you can find Lucky charms here but it is in only one store and it is quite expesive, so have Lucky Charms is quite a luxury. We have thoroughly enjoyed this box of cereal and I especially love that Fenton picks out all of the marshmallows first. Oh what joy.